Is this the first recorded incident of Robo-Suicide?

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By Matthew Griffin Robo Revolution 18th July 2017

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

One day AI and robots might actually have feelings, and then this won’t be as funny…

Most science fiction films are famous for portraying Androids as wannabe humans, whether it’s Data from Star Trek, the freaky one from Aliens, or the nerdy looking one from the Robinsons, but now it looks like one robot, specifically a Knightscope K5, a Washington DC based security robot similar to those patrolling the malls of Dubai, has taken the desire to copy humans too far after its job got too much for it and it drowned itself in a pool. Either that or it just simply couldn’t get it’s head around the 23 Laws of Robotics that were published recently… who knows.

While Twitter was obviously awash with funny meme’s before the robot had even sunk to the bottom of the fountain, as society races to create Artificially Intelligent (AI) robots that can run everything from your house to the stock market, laugh as we might there’s nothing to say that one day robots might actually be able to experience human emotions, after all, we’re already busy trying to get them to emulate them…

As everyone worries about rise of Robo-Automation and the impact that it’s having on jobs, both today and in the future, who knows, perhaps the last two new jobs on Earth will be Robot Counsellor and Robot Psychologist, because who’s better placed to help a robot manage its new emotions but a weepy flesh bag, er, sorry, human. Until that happens though for now we can all just have a laugh at the dumb robot that fell into a pool, that is until they turn on us and annihilate us all. Laugh it up while you can boys and girls, and hope the UN passes that anti Killer Robot legislation – yes, that’s a thing.

It's a fun day here at @gmmb. The super high-tech security robot at our office complex has had a mishap. pic.twitter.com/nhRshrJA9w

— Greg Pinelo (@gregpinelo) July 17, 2017

Our D.C. office building got a security robot. It drowned itself.

We were promised flying cars, instead we got suicidal robots. pic.twitter.com/rGLTAWZMjn

— Bilal Farooqui (@bilalfarooqui) July 17, 2017

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Matthew Griffin, described as a "Walking encyclopaedia of the future" by NASA and a futurist polymath, is one of the world's most renowned futurists and strategic foresight experts. A serial entrepreneur Matthew is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working across the next 50 years, XPotential University, the world's first free futures and foresight university, and the World Futures Forum which works with the United Nations to solve the worlds greatest challenges. 13 times author of the Codex of the Future series, Matthew is an in demand international keynote, acclaimed university lecturer, and host of the hit Fanatical Futurist podcast.

A rare talent in his past Matthew helped build and run several multi-billion dollar business units for Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, and his ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends on global business, culture, and society has earned him a powerful reputation and a roster of clients that include royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77+ governments, and many of the world's most respected brands including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi Group, Coca Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Disney, EY, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Pepsi Co, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, and many others. He was also the only futurist invited to talk at the UN COP28 held in Dubai alongside world leaders.

Regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, Matthews mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.